BACKGROUND The POU class 1 homeobox 1 transcription factor (POU1F1, also known as Pit-1) was reported to be associated with tumor progression and metastasis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of Pit-1 in breast cancer patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS The relative expression levels of Pit-1 in breast cancer patients were detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PC...

A new type of monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based, highly specific phototherapy (photoimmunotherapy; PIT) that uses a near infrared (NIR) phthalocyanine dye, IRDye700DX (IR700) conjugated with a mAb, has recently been described. NIR light exposure leads to immediate, target-selective necrotic cell death in vitro. Detecting immediate in vivo cell death is more difficult because it takes at least 3 d...

PIT-2 is a type III sodium phosphate cotransporter and the receptor for amphotropic murine leukemia viruses. We have investigated the expression and the functions of a tagged version of PIT-2 in CHO cells. PIT-2 remained equally abundant at the cell surface within 6 h following variation of the phosphate supply. In contrast, the efficiency of phosphate uptake and retrovirus entry was inversely ...

It is commonly assumed that the facial pit of pitvipers forms relatively sharp images and can detect small differences in environmental surface temperatures. We have visualized the temperature contrast images formed on the facial pit membrane using a detailed optical and heat transfer analysis, which includes heat transfer through the air in the pit chambers as well as via thermal infrared radi...

Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is a new cancer treatment that combines the specificity of antibodies for targeting tumors with the toxicity induced by photosensitizers after exposure to near infrared (NIR) light. We performed PIT in a model of disseminated gastric cancer peritoneal carcinomatosis and monitored efficacy with in vivo GFP fluorescence imaging. In vitro and in vivo experiments were condu...

BACKGROUND In rural Bangladesh, India and elsewhere, pour-flush pit latrines are the most common sanitation system. When a single pit latrine becomes full, users must empty it themselves and risk exposure to fresh feces, pay an emptying service to remove pit contents or build a new latrine. Double pit pour-flush latrines may serve as a long-term sanitation option including high water table area...

Burrowers and borers are ecosystem engineers that alter their physical environments through bioturbation, bioirrigation and bioerosion. The mechanisms of moving through solid substrata by burrowing or boring depend on the mechanical properties of the medium and the size and morphology of the organism. For burrowing animals, mud differs mechanically from sand; in mud, sediment grains are suspend...

SDMA (Space-Division Multiple Access) is a MIMO (Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output) based wireless communication network architecture which has the potential to significantly increase the spectral efficiency and the system performance. The maximum likelihood (ML) detection provides the optimal performance, but its complexity increases exponentially with the constellation size of modulation and...

Active mud volcanoes in the northern Apennines, Italy, currently have gentle eruptions. There are, however, historical accounts of violent eruptions and outbursts. Evidence for large past eruptions is also recorded by large decimeter rock clasts preserved in erupted mud. We measured the rheological properties of mud currently being erupted in order to evaluate the conditions needed to transport...

Hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) remains a common complication of allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation. Previous analyses of risk factors for this complication were performed in heterogeneous populations, with dissimilar diagnosis and conditioning regimens. We postulated that HC is more prevalent in matched unrelated donor (MUD) and unrelated cord blood (UCB) transplantations than in matched re...